Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has once again reiterated his stance on the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) while addressing a gathering of overseas Pakistanis living in Qatar, saying that the PPP leadership was being prosecuted under this infamous law but those who created it were not even questioned. His apparent reference was to former President Gen Pervez Musharraf and then Director General of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) as well as the sitting Chief of the Army Staff who took the draft of the ordinance to Dubai and singed it with late Benazir Bhutto. This agreement paved the way for Benazir Bhutto and her spouse Asif Ali Zardari to return to Pakistan. The NRO was to be tabled in the National Assembly for passage. It goes to the credit of Premier Gilani and the PPP that it refused to endorse it in view of strong public opposition to the ordinance. Not only this, the government then informed the Supreme Court that it had no intention of defending this law against the wishes of the peopleThe situation has since changed radically and the Prime Minister is facing contempt proceedings in the Supreme Court, which has summoned him to appear on February 13 to face indictment charges. His lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan argued before the court that since the President enjoyed immunity under the Constitution, no contempt of court had been committed in avoiding writing a letter to the Swiss court. Mr Ahsan’s earlier public position had been that the government ought not to delay in writing to the Swiss government for re-opening the cases. In his address to the Pakistani community, Prime Minister Gilani further argued that his party was running the affairs of the state since people had given it the mandate to do so. But conspiracies were being hatched to deprive them of their right to govern and create a situation in which institutions could come into clash with one another. Such efforts, according to Mr Gilani, would jeopardise the democratic process. He was of the view that such attempts needed to be thwarted if the system had to function in line with democratic norms. It is true that from the day the PPP assumed power, opposition leaders and some media persons started a smear campaign against the government, mentioning dates when it would pack up and go. The PPP government had been facing one problem after another and could hardly spare time to resolve people’s problems, he complained. Such a complaint may be true, but the Prime Minister would do well to remember that the people have displayed tremendous patience over the last few years, simply to support the democratic process and not because they are absolutely satisfied by his government's efforts in improving their lot.